Issue - meetings

Report ED17001

The Schools’ Forum considered a report which provided information on all revenue and capital balances held by Primary, Secondary and Special Maintained Schools as at 31 March 2016.  The report also provided a comparison to the balances held at the same time in the previous year.

Balances were recorded in accordance with the DfE Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) Regulations.  This was a framework for reporting income, expenditure and balances, providing schools with a benchmarking facility for comparison between similar schools to promote self-management and value for money.  A CFR return was produced for all schools maintained by the Local Authority as at 31 March 2016.  The CFR framework consisted of six balances, which provided an overall picture of the resources available to a school from one year to the next, and information on balances carried forward.

The average level of revenue balances both committed and uncommitted for Maintained Primary Schools stood at 11% of School Budget Shares compared to 9% at the end of 2014/15, an increase of 2%.  Secondary School balances remained constant at 9% and Special School balances stand at 7% compared to 5% the previous year, an increase of 2%.

The Head of Schools’ Finance reported that since the publication of the agenda one further return, from St George’s School, had been received.  Any updated information from individual schools would be included in the report due to be considered by the Council’s Education Budget Sub-Committee.

In response to a question, the Head of Schools’ Finance confirmed that schools were responsible for managing their own budgets and that there was now no balance control mechanism.  The information contained in the report was provided by the schools and reported to Members however the Local Authority had little or no control.  Officers within the Schools’ Finance Team continued to work closely with schools to identify whether there was a valid reason for any surplus balances.

The Head of Schools’ Finance confirmed that a Dedicated Schools Grant Outturn Report would be considered at a future meeting.

RESOLVED: That the balances be noted.